Baltic mythological heritage

Neries regioniniame parke saugoma daugelis gamtos ir kultūros vertybių. Tas, kurios yra susijusios su senovės baltų religija ir mitologija, apibendrintai siūlome vadinti baltų mitologijos paveldo vertybėmis. Baltų mitologijos paveldas, kuris, be jokios abejonės, apima ir žodinės tradicijos sritį, leidžia atversti daugelį iki šiol mažai žinomų krašto praeities puslapių. Tiesa, mitologijos tyrinėjimai buvo ir šiandien yra sunkus uždavinys. Ne visada bandymus pažvelgti į baltų dvasinės kultūros turinį vainikuoja sėkmė - tyrinėjimus apsunkina įvairios objektyvios istorinės, metodologinės ir kitos priežastys. 2003 metais baltų mitologijos paveldo tyrinėjimus Neries regioniniame parke inspiravo šviesios atminties Neries regioninio parko kultūrologė Ida Stankevičiūtė (1952-2006), ir jiems buvo pasitelktas visas kompleksas šaltinių: vietovardžiai, pasakojamoji tradicija (padavimai, sakmės, tikėjimai), archeologijos, istorijos, geografijos duomenys.In 2003, Ida Stankevičiūtė (1952-2006) inspired the investigations of the Baltic mythological heritage in the Neris Regional Park. A great corpus of data - place-names, stories, beliefs, archaeological, historic and geographical data - became the basis for further investigations. The fact that a lot of barrow groups of the 5th-7th and of the 10th-11th centuries have survived on the banks of the river so far helps to reveal the role of the central axis of the Regional Park - the Neris - in the Baltic mythology. It was noticed that in the 5th-7th с., the cremation pits in the barrows as often as not were oriented in the same direction as the Neris flow was. It is thought that a close geographical relationship between burial sites and water bodies is the result of the mythology. Water near burial sites plays the role of mediator, ensures the journey of the souls of the buried dead to heaven. Tales concerning the rocks of the rapids exiting close to barrow groups tell the same. They are regarded as participants of weddings turned into stones. Weddings are universally known to be the image of switch from one state to another, from one world to another. The topic of the rapids - the exclusive places of the contact between the living's and the dead's worlds - is continued by rafters' offering for the river before starting a journey through the great rapids or at the end of such a journey. Salt (or salt and bread) was offered for the river as well as in the kitchen, it was put into the boiling water pot - so that it could decrease the torments of souls being there. In the Neris, stones (and their groups) that are called by the names of animals, for instance: Rooster, Sheep, Ox, Pig with Piggies, Cow, Doggy, Filly, and Ram, deserve a particular attention. They, by the way, have a Cowboy, too! Historical sources indicate that the names of stones in rivers are inherited from the deep past. The Indo-European mythological data make us investigate attentively these zoomorphic names. Firstly, beginning with the iconography of the ancient times, a god of a river is portrayed as an ox with a head of a bearded man, and eventually - as a young man with horns of an ox. Secondly, the portrayal of a king of fish, like a cowboy and fish, like pigs, cows, horses or other domestic animal herds, is very spread in the Baltic mythology and among neighbouring tribes, too. Thirdly, Baltic gods and goddesses do not only have particular domestic animals, beasts and birds in their escort, but they also present themselves in such a form. Three big groups of the natural holy places (sacred groves, hills, and springs) reveal some new aspects of the Baltic mythological heritage in the Neris Regional Park. These places are located on the banks of the Neris or with their visual associations are related to the river. Especially valuable data are collected about the springs. Spring water gives life, sight, and in general health, youth and beauty. The water of these springs flows opposite the sun, or - in other words - to the east, and only that makes it exceptional. One went to wash or take water at dawn, but with the sun not having risen yet. Maundy Thursday was the calendar date mentioned by believers most often. The phenomenon of the springs flowing to the east and regarded to be exceptional is even more exclusive, taking into consideration the mentioned details that the waters of the Neris itself flow to the west. The latter images related to the river tell us about the dead's world and souls. So, waters flowing to the east are a little part of the mythical outlook, which is an exception among all the waters flowing to the west (to the Dead's Sea - Lithuanian: marios) . In simple words, when the waters of the Neris - the dominant of the landscape - are full of death symbolism, the people on its banks cherish little springs giving life, and they deliver this knowledge, as if it were the most important secret of life, to children from one generation to the other. The verbal elements - tales, beliefs, incantations, etc. - enrich the Baltic mythological heritage of the Neris Regional Park very much. Even in the texts, which were recorded in the 21st century, a special people's relation with the environment surrounding them, the universe, nature objects, flora and fauna is distinct. Ancient beliefs in animals (wolves, storks, grass-snakes, etc.), sensitive and respectful people's behaviour with them catch our breath. The incantations, widely known prayers, which are used to appeal to the New moon, first seen at the beginning of the moon cycle, are alive